The DC-3: no other airplane has revolutionized air transportation, flown as many hours, served with as many airlines or flown in continuous service as long. Stemming from the earlier Douglas designs of the DC-1 and DC-2, the DC-3 production lines ran a scant ten years but produced 455 airliner versions and well over 10,000 military versions.

ďIn my painting,Ē said Craig Kodera, ďI strove to evoke a sense of warmth, nostalgia and romance. Never have so many stories been written about a single airplane; never has on airplane been so much a part of our consciousness. It seems that everyone, at one time, has flown in a DC-3. This painting is for all of them. As unique as the airplane is, so too is the painting. My goal was to capture not just the airframe but indeed the spirit of aviation which is the Douglas DC-3.Ē

Craig KoderaAviation is this artistís living. Painting is a joy and a choice; not his
career. Craig Kodera career is as an airline pilot, so each of his paintings
reflect an intimate knowledge of how it feels to fly and what it looks like out
the cockpit. "I paint what I see," he says,"and my office window is at 35,000
feet."
An appreciation of aviation came easy, since Kodera was raised in what he terms
an "aviation family," which included an uncle who flew with the famous
Doolittle Raiders during World War II. At an age when most teens were trying to
ace the driverís test, Kodera had earned his private pilotís license. A love of
painting also came early. Kodera started seriously studying it at fourteen.
He graduated from UCLA with a degree in mass communications and spent a year as
a commercial artist before joining the Air Force Reserve, where he was assigned
to the Air Rescue Service and then the Strategic Air Command. There his
knowledge of air war history grew while he logged literally thousands of hours
flying.
Eventually Kodera left the service and joined American Airlines. When he isnít
flying, heís usually painting. His artwork is part of the Smithsonian
Institutionís National Air and Space Museum permanent collection and hangs in
many museums. He is also the charter vice president of the American Society of
Aviation Artists, a member of the Air Force Art Program and serves with the Los
Angeles Society of Illustrators.